Lynchburg - Virginia - History

The Lynchburg Area has a rich history, stretching from the Revolutionary Era with Thomas Jefferson's Poplar Forest, though the strife of the Civil War and its end at Appomattox, through the casualties that D-Day imposed on Bedford, to the prosperity of today, with eager eyes on the future ahead.

With excellent local schools and a true family atmosphere, Greater Lynchburg is a wonderful place to raise a family. Lynchburg Area is the home of true Southern hospitality!

In 1757 John Lynch, at age 17, started the first Ferry Service at Lynch's Landing across the James, near present-day 9th street. The Lynchburg's first Quaker meetinghouse is built as well. In 1784 John Lynch petitioned the Virginia General Assembly for a town charter and in 1786, the Virginia General Assembly established a "town on the lands of Lynch in the County of Campbell."

Thomas Jefferson in 1791 is reported to have disproved the notion here that the "love apple," known today as a tomato, was poisonous by biting into one,  providing the basis for today's Tomato Faire Festival at the Lynchburg Community Market.

Lynchburg's first tobacco warehouse (of many) was built and the first newspaper was created. "Bateaux" boats are used to deliver locally-grown tobacco and other products downstream to Richmond.

By the early 1800's, tobacco was the city's major economy, with numerous warehouses processing and shipping the product east to Richmond by river batteaux. 1817 saw the beginnings of construction of the Salem Turnpike (the roadbed of what is now U.S. 460 between Lynchburg and Roanoke) as well as a toll bridge across the James River (this bridge was at 9th street, at the original ferry site).

In 1806, Lynchburg's first church was constructed, and the Old City Cemetery was established. During 1828, Lynchburg was the first city in the nation to build a high-source water system, creating pressure for fire hoses and city fountains.

After 1830's was the height of the Lynchburg tobacco trade. Over 50 tons of the region's cash crop are processed a year. As a result, Lynchburg became one of the wealthiest cities in the nation in per capita income, second only to the whaling town of New Bedford, Massachusetts.  Lynchburg reaches nearly 6,000 people in population.

1849 saw the beginning of the construction of the railroad and three years later it was inaugurated. the Union Station was built for the Virginia & Tennessee Railroad, and it was a switching station for the Chesapeake & Ohio,  Southern Railways, and Norfolk & Western lines.  Lynchburg  was formally recognized as a city, and its  population reaches 11,000.

With three railroads and a canal system in place by the beginning of the war, Lynchburg functioned as a transportation and communication hub for the Confederate States of America, as well as a supplying station and a major hospital center.  Its strategic importance even made Lynchburg the capital of the Confederacy for a day.

The 1850's also saw the arrival of telegraph service to Richmond, along with a gas works for lighting, and a sewer system. More importantly, Lynchburg achieved full status as a city on August 27, 1852. In 1854, the South Side railroad began operation with the arrival of the first train from Petersburg at the Island depot. Lynchburg would see its third railroad, the Orange and Alexandria (a northern route), in a few more years. In the summer of 1855, Lynchburg served as a refuge from the yellow-fever-plagued cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth, and in the following year, a series of back-to-back snowstorms dumped 58 inches of snow on Lynchburg.

In late September of 1870, Lynchburg experienced its worst flood in history when the James rose 26 feet out of its banks. The flood destroyed all bridges across the river, all railroad property in the river basin and on the island, the main gas pipe across Blackwater Creek and the water works pump house, leaving the city without light or water for months, and without a bridge across the James. In 1877, yet another flood wreaked similar havoc, once again destroying all bridges.

In the 1880's, The Lynchburg area steel manufacturing business booms, earning the nickname "The Pittsburg of the South." Grand homes are thus constructed in the Rivermont and Diamond Hill areas of Lynchburg.

Lynchburg spent its wealth transforming itself into a modern city. Numerous large homes were built in the Diamond Hill and Rivermont areas (Federal Hill had previously been the area of the city's well-to-do). The Lynchburg Hill Climbers (1894) brought baseball to the city, more electric power was supplied from the Reusens hydroelectric dam (1903), and in 1907, a 21-mile wooden pipe system was laid to nearby Pedlar Lake, which, to this day, serves as the city's primary water source.

 In 1931 the first airport in the region opens. The first sports stadiums are built in Lynchburg for baseball and football. In 1959, Pittman Plaza, the first retail center outside of downtown opens.

Lynchburg moves forward with technological growth and strong companies such as General Electric, Ericsson, Framatone, Babcock & Wilcox, and J. Crew, to name a few!

Lynchburg has evolved from a small, tightly knit manufacturing city to one with a diverse economy with most residents now living in surrounding suburbs. This transformation began in 1955 when 

Babcock & Wilcox (nuclear technology) and General Electric 

opened plants in the city, causing an influx of new residents.